Without a doubt, Wednesday night was the wildest party Ramsay's historic C.C. Snowdon building has seen in a while.

With four of Calgary's coolest merchants setting up shop in the spectacular space on 11th Street S.E. over the last year, it's safe to say the structure that was built in 1911 is undergoing a bit of a rebirth.

The first tenant to peel back the layers and spot the Snowdon Block's potential was none other than Debbie Dalen -- proprietor of all items eclectic, whimsical and wonderful at Pretty Little Things. This week saw the unique boutique that's filled to the brim with clothing, accessories and furnishing celebrate its first anniversary, marked by models decked in vintage this and modern that, and dozens of Debbie's most loyal guests shopping for a gem.

The second floor had much to celebrate as well, as the oh-so-popular Silk Road Spice Merchant pair of Kelci Hind and Colin Leach threw a grand opening graced with mulled wine, plenty of spice and everything nice. Just down the hall, the Calgary design community's go-to gal Jacqui McFarland -- former chairwoman of Mount Royal University's bachelor of applied interior design program -- officially opened the doors to Jac Mac Design Studio, alongside the much revered Paul Nagel, principal at Prism Interiors.

That building sure has a long history of environmental transgressions. As a young auto parts supply clerk I used to pick up battery acid and all sorts of horrible stuff there. I have a feeling that the land is best left undisturbed lest some need for major clean up becomes apparent. Great memories.

A bit of news from a July 2011 column about building owner Neil Richardson:

Developer revives historic properties
By David Parker, For the Calgary Herald
July 19, 2011

Campbell Camillus Snowdon built the first portion of his building in 1914 that he used in the manufacturing and importing of petroleum products such as oils, greases, paints, soaps and polishes.

Today the brick structure is painted white - like many older buildings that owners wanted to spruce up - and the back warehouse portion was destroyed by fire in 1988. It has not been touched since, although the front facing onto 11th Street just to the south of the Ramsay Design Centre and a secondary building alongside it are occupied by tenants.

With the assistance of Simpson Roberts Architecture Interior Design, Richardson's plan is to leave the streetscape of Snowdon the way it is, except for stripping off the paint to reveal the original brick facade. Then he will add a new section of three floors that will provide a total of 21,000 square feet of leasable space that Chris Chornohos of Advent Commercial is taking to the market.

The adjacent building to the north will be demolished so that the land will provide ample new parking.